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Objective: To investigate personal exposures to nitrogen oxides (NO X ) and nitrogen di-oxide (NO 2 ) and the influence of baseline personal characteristics, living environment and daily activity patterns of the participants on the exposures among adults over 35 in Tianjin and Shanghai., Methods: In this panel study, 91 healthy nonsmoking adults aged over 35 from Tianjin and Shanghai participated in our study. The study was conducted in summer and winter. The participants were followed for three times with an interval of at least two weeks. Only participants in Shanghai were followed once in winter because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty-seven participants completed follow-up visits in both seasons. We measured their 24 h personal exposures to NO X and NO 2 and collected their baseline and time-activity information through questionnaire/diary. The linear mixed model was used to analyze the associations between potential influencing factors and personal NO X and NO 2 exposure levels., Results: There were 349 follow-up visits with valid 24 h personal NO 2 and NO X exposure measurements in the two cities. The ave-rage 24 h personal exposures to NO 2 and NO X (volume fraction) in Tianjin participants were 18.0×10 -9 and 26.2×10 -9 in summer, and 31.0×10 -9 and 54.9×10 -9 in winter, respectively; and the average 24 h personal exposures to NO 2 and NO X in Shanghai participants were 38.7×10 -9 and 100.0×10 -9 in summer, and 45.5×10 -9 and 139.2×10 -9 in winter, respectively. The results of univariate regression analysis showed that their personal NO X exposure levels were significantly associated with city, season, gender, average daily cooking times, and ambient NO 2 concentrations measured at fixed-site monitoring stations. In addition to the above factors, the personal NO X exposure levels were also significantly associated with educational level and the personal NO 2 exposure levels were also significantly associated with passive smoking, average daily home time, cooking energy type, residential distance from main traffic road, and use of kitchen ventilators. Multivariate regression analysis showed that the personal exposure levels of NO 2 and NO X were significantly lower in Tianjin than that in Shanghai, were significantly lower in summer than that in winter, and were significantly and positively associated with ambient NO 2 concentrations measured at fixed-site monitoring stations. In addition, personal NO X exposure levels were significantly lower in females than in males, and personal NO 2 exposure levels were significantly positively associated with average daily cooking times and significantly inversely associated with average daily home time. For every interquartile range ( IQR ) increase (12.7×10 -9 ) in ambient NO 2 , the personal NO 2 exposure levels increased by 27.5% (95% CI : 17.0%-38.9%), and personal NO X exposure levels increased by 16.1% (95% CI : 7.1%-25.8%)., Conclusion: Season, city and ambient NO 2 concentrations are significant influencing factors of personal exposure levels of NO 2 and NO X. At the same time, the personal exposures levels of NO 2 are also affected by lifestyle factors. Our study provides scientific evidence for making precise air pollution control decisions and reducing the exposure levels of NO X in the population.

Particulate matter with diameters ≤2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ) has been identified as a significant air pollutant contributing to premature mortality. Nevertheless, the specific compositions within PM 2.5 that play the most crucial role remain unclear, especially in areas with high pollution concentrations. This study aims to investigate the individual and joint mortality risks associated with PM 2.5 inorganic chemical compositions and identify primary contributors. In 1998, we conducted a prospective cohort study in four northern Chinese cities (Tianjin, Shenyang, Taiyuan, and Rizhao). Satellite-based machine learning models calculated PM 2.5 inorganic chemical compositions, including sulfate (SO 4 2- ), nitrate (NO 3 - ), ammonium (NH 4 + ), and chloride (Cl - ). A time-varying Cox proportional hazards model was applied to analyze associations between these compositions and cardiorespiratory mortality, encompassing nonaccidental causes, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), nonmalignant respiratory diseases (RDs), and lung cancer. The quantile-based g-computation model evaluated joint exposure effects and relative contributions of the compositions. Stratified analysis was used to identify vulnerable subpopulations. During 785,807 person-years of follow-up, 5812 (15.5%) deaths occurred from nonaccidental causes, including 2932 (7.8%) from all CVDs, 479 (1.3%) from nonmalignant RDs, and 552 (1.4%) from lung cancer. Every interquartile range (IQR) increase in SO 4 2- was associated with mortality from nonaccidental causes (hazard ratio: 1.860; 95% confidence interval: 1.809, 1.911), CVDs (1.909; 1.836, 1.985), nonmalignant RDs (2.178; 1.975, 2.403), and lung cancer (1.773; 1.624, 1.937). In the joint exposure model, a simultaneous rise of one IQR in all four compositions increased the risk of cardiorespiratory mortality by at least 36.3%, with long-term exposure to SO 4 2- contributing the most to nonaccidental and cardiopulmonary deaths. Individuals with higher incomes and lower education levels were found to be more vulnerable. Long-term exposure to higher levels of PM 2.5 inorganic compositions was associated with significantly increased cardiopulmonary mortality, with SO 4 2- potentially being the primary contributor. These findings offer insights into how PM 2.5 sources impact health, aiding the development of more effective governance measures., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Co-published by Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and American Chemical Society.)

Previous studies have shown that exposure to black carbon (BC, a tracer of traffic-related air pollution) and psychosocial stress are both associated with adverse cardiac effects, but whether psychosocial stress could modify the cardiac effects of BC is unclear. To investigate the potential modifying effect of psychosocial stress on the associations between acute exposure to BC and typical cardiac health variables, real-time personal 24 h measurements were conducted in a repeated-measure study among adults with elevated blood pressure (high-risk group) and a panel study among normal adults (low-risk group) in China. Measured cardiac health variables included ST-segment depression events, heart rate, and heart rate variability (HRV) variables. Perceived Stress Scale, State Anxiety Inventory and Self-rating Depression Scale were used to assess the recent psychosocial stress status of the participants, and a composite stress index was established based on these scales. Generalized linear mixed-effects model was used to analyze the associations between BC exposure and cardiac health variables and potential effect modification by psychosocial stress. A total of 97 24 h measurements among 97 participants in the repeated-measure study and 202 24 h measurements among 87 participants in the panel study were included in the final analysis. Acute BC exposure was significantly associated with increased ST-segment depression events and heart rate and decreases in HRV in both studies. The marginal effects of acute BC exposure on most cardiac health variables generally tended to be amplified under higher vs low levels of psychosocial stress in both studies, with the composite stress index apparently modifying the associations of BC exposure with most ST-segment depression events and HRV variables. These findings suggest that psychosocial stress may increase the participants' cardiac susceptibility to BC exposure, which could be helpful for the identification of susceptible individuals in the context of traffic-related air pollution., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Co-published by Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and American Chemical Society.)

Background: Evidence on the associations between long-term exposure to multiple air pollutants and cardiopulmonary mortality is limited, especially for developing regions with higher pollutant levels. We aimed to characterise the individual and joint (multi-pollutant) associations of long-term exposure to air pollutants with cardiopulmonary mortality, and to identify air pollutant that primarily contributes to the mortality risk., Methods: We followed 37,442 participants with a mean age of 43.5 years in four cities in northern China (Tianjin, Shenyang, Taiyuan, and Rizhao) from January 1998 to December 2019. Annual particulate matter (PM) with diameters ≤2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ), ≤10 μm (PM 10 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) were estimated using daily average values from satellite-derived machine learning models and monitoring stations. Time-varying Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the individual association between air pollutants and mortality from non-accidental causes, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), non-malignant respiratory diseases (RDs) and lung cancer, accounting for demographic and socioeconomic factors. Effect modifications by age, sex, income and education level were also examined. Quantile-based g-Computation integrated with time-to-event data was additionally applied to evaluate the co-effects and the relative weight of contributions for air pollutants., Findings: During 785,807 person-years of follow-up, 5812 (15.5%) died from non-accidental causes, among which 2932 (7.8%) were from all CVDs, 479 (1.3%) from non-malignant RDs, and 552 (1.4%) from lung cancer. Long-term exposure to PM 10 (mean [baseline]: 136.5 μg/m 3 ), PM 2.5 (mean [baseline]: 70.2 μg/m 3 ), SO 2 (mean [baseline]: 113.0 μg/m 3 ) and NO 2 (mean [baseline]: 39.2 μg/m 3 ) were adversely and consistently associated with all mortality outcomes. A 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 was associated with higher mortality from non-accidental causes (hazard ratio 1.20; 95% confidence interval 1.17-1.23), CVDs (1.23; 1.19-1.28), non-malignant RDs (1.37; 1.25-1.49) and lung cancer (1.14; 1.05-1.23). A monotonically increasing curve with linear or supra-linear shape with no evidence of a threshold was observed for the exposure-response relationship of mortality with individual or joint exposure to air pollutants. PM 2.5 consistently contributed most to the elevated mortality risks related to air pollutant mixture, followed by SO 2 or PM 10 ., Interpretation: There was a strong and positive association of long-term individual and joint exposure to PM 10 , PM 2.5 , SO 2 , and NO 2 with mortalities from non-accidental causes, CVDs, non-malignant RDs and lung cancer in high-exposure settings, with PM 2.5 potentially being the main contributor. The shapes of associations were consistent with a linear or supra-linear exposure-response relationship, with no lower threshold observed within the range of concentrations in this study., Funding: National Key Research and Development Program of China, the China Scholarship Council, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

Crops grown in areas contaminated by industrial and agricultural fluorine (F) have gained increasing attention, however F levels in different vegetables and lettuce cultivars are rarely reported. In situ-field experiment was designed to investigate the concentration, translocation, and health risks of F in 20 vegetable species and 25 lettuce cultivars. After the growth of 150 d for vegetables and 60 d for lettuce, F concentration (12.83-138.07 mg kg -1 ), translocation factor (0.16-6.32), and bio-concentration factor (1.90-13.73) varied significantly between vegetable species and lettuce cultivars. According to the hazard quotient values (based on the reference dose of F), all the vegetable species appears to pose no risk to human health, while 60% of the lettuce cultivars present potential health risks to children. Therefore, the limit value of F in vegetables for adults and children should be enacted in the future. Moreover, cabbage, green radish, spinach, leaf mustard, and Frisee lettuce (Huayu) were considered as a safe dietary product. These findings contributed to the safe cultivation of vegetables and the control of fluorosis in the areas contaminated by industrial and agricultural activities., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

China faces increasing health risks from climate change. The structure and function of the eye and vision were affected by extreme heat and cold. The study aimed to evaluate the impacts of heatwaves and cold spells on glaucoma. A national cross-sectional study of the Rural Epidemiology for Glaucoma (REG-China) was conducted in ten provinces of China, and 36,081 adults aged 40 years or more were included. Glaucoma signs were assessed via a standard examination. A total of 15 heatwave definitions, based on intensity (95th to 99th percentiles of temperature distribution) and duration (≥2 days, 3 days, and 4 days), were used to quantify heatwave effects, and 6 cold spell definitions were defined based on threshold temperature percentile (5th and 10th) and duration (3 days, 5 days, and 9 days). Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models paired with interaction analysis were performed to investigate the impacts of heatwaves and cold spells on glaucoma, and the dose-response relationships were assessed using a restricted cubic spline (RCS) model. Subgroup analysis was conducted stratified by gender, age, smoking status, occupation, and family history of glaucoma. The overall prevalence of glaucoma was 2.1% (95% CI 1.94-2.25%). Higher heatwaves were significantly correlated with higher OR of glaucoma, with the OR (95% CI) ranging from 1.014 (1.009, 1.018) to 1.090 (1.065, 1.115) by different definitions. Glaucoma was affected by heatwaves more strongly than by cold spells. The effects of both heatwaves and cold spells were higher in males than females and in smokers than nonsmokers. These results of the present study evoked the attention of prospective research to elucidate the relationship between extreme temperatures and eye diseases., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Humans are mainly exposed to cadmium (Cd) due to the rice consumption, however there exist considerable differences across rice cultivars in terms of Cd absorption and accumulation in the grains, and subsequent release after digestion (bioaccessibility), as well as uptake by Caco-2 cells of humans (bioavailability). This study comprised of field and lab simulation trials where in the field, firstly 39 mid-rice cultivars were screened for their phytoremediation potential coupled with safe production in relation to uptake and translocation of Cd. Lower Cd concentrations (˂0.2 mg kg -1 ) in polished rice of 74 % cultivars were ascribed to the increased root to straw translocation indicating that straw may acquire higher accumulation of Cd. Furthermore, the ionomic profile demonstrated that the spatial distribution of metals in different rice organs corresponds to the plant growth morphology. In the second year, in vitro-in vivo assay model was employed to assess the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of Cd in polished rice and to further estimate the daily Cd intake by humans through rice grains. The results of bioaccessibility and bioavailability assays and daily estimated Cd intake presented the corresponding values of 39.02-59.76 %, 8.69-24.26 %, and 0.0185-0.9713 μg kg -1 body weight day -1 , respectively. There exists a strong connection between total Cd and bioaccessible Cd to humans (R 2 = 0.94, P < 0.01). Polynomial fitting (R 2 = 0.91, P < 0.01) showed a better statistically significant correlation between total Cd contents and bioavailable levels, suggesting that in vitro-in vivo assays should be considered in future studies. The results of field experiments and in vitro-in vivo assays recommended the Tianyouhuazhan (MR-29), Heliangyou1hao (MR-17), and Yongyou15 (MR-1) as suitable mid-rice cultivars for the phytoremediation of slightly Cd contaminated soils coupled with rice agro-production due to their high nutritional value and low total and bioavailable Cd for human., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Application of crop residues and chemical nitrogen (N) fertilizer is a conventional practice for achieving high yield in a rice system. However, the fallacious combination of N fertilizers with crop straw not only significantly reduces the N use efficiencies (NUEs) but also leads to serious environmental problems. The present study employed five treatments including no N fertilization and no straw incorporation (ck), N fertilization incorporation only (S0), N fertilization with 40% straw (S 40 ), N fertilization with 60% straw (S 60 ), and N fertilization with 100% straw (S 100 ) to improve N use efficiency as well as reduced Cd distribution in rice. The crop yields were largely enhanced by fertilization ranging from 13 to 52% over the straw addition treatments. Compared with ck, N fertilizer input significantly decreased soil pH, while DOC contents were raised in response to straw amendment, reaching the highest in S 60 and S 100 treatments, respectively. Moreover, straw addition substantially impacted the Cd accumulation and altered the bacterial community structure. The soil NH 4 + -N concentration under S 0 performed the maximum in yellow soil, while the minimum in black soil compared to straw-incorporated pots. In addition, the soil NO 3 - -N concentration in straw-incorporated plots tended to be higher than that in straw-removed plots in both soils, indicating that crop straw triggering the N mineralization was associated with native soil N condition. Furthermore, the NUE increased with 15  N uptake in the plant, and the residual 15  N in soil was increased by 26.8% with straw addition across four straw application rates. Overall, our study highlights the trade-offs between straw incorporation with N fertilizer in eliminating potential Cd toxicity, increasing fertilizer-N use efficiencies and help to provide a feasible agricultural management., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: Occupational harmful factors, such as shift work, are attracting increasing attention as a potential cause of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In this study, we aimed to identify the association between shift work and NAFLD incidence in Chinese rail population., Methods: A cohort study was conducted among 14,112 rail workers for 4-year follow-up. Shift work frequency and other potential variables were recorded by questionnaires, including demographic, lifestyle, and occupation information. Besides, body mass index, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase were measured by anthropometric measurement and blood test. Diagnosis of new NAFLD case was based on abdominal ultrasonography. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to determine whether shift work has effect on occurrence of NAFLD., Results: The incidence of NAFLD was 30.43% in total subjects. After adjustment for possible confounders, the RRs of NAFLD were 1.069 (95% CI 0.998-1.146) and 1.179 (95% CI 1.059-1.312) in occasionally shift work group and frequently shift work group respectively, compared to the seldom shift work group. In stratified analyses, the RRs of NAFLD incidence linked to shift work exposure seems increase among female and elder. The results of three sensitivity analyses were similar with main analysis., Conclusions: This research provided further evidence of positive harmful effect of shift work on NAFLD incidence in Chinese rail workers, particularly in frequently shift work population. The risk estimate of shift work on NAFLD was higher in female and elder., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: High intake of dietary fiber is associated with lower incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Dietary fiber, functions as a prebiotic, has a significant impact on intestinal bacteria composition and diversity. The intestinal flora and metabolites generated by fermentation of dietary fiber not only affect the health of intestine but also play a role in many extra-intestinal diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and atherosclerosis. However, the role and the mechanism by which a high fiber diet contributes to the development of myocardial infarction is still unclear., Methods and Results: Here we used an in vivo mouse model to investigate whether dietary fiber intake could protect against myocardial infarction. Our study demonstrated high fiber diet significantly improved cardiac function, reduced infarct size and prevented adverse remodeling following myocardial infarction. The protective effects of high fiber diet had a strong relation with its attenuation of inflammation. Moreover, we observed that high fiber diet could modulate the composition of intestinal flora and differentially impacted metabolites production, including the biosynthesis of bile acids and linoleic acid metabolism., Conclusion: Overall, the findings of this study provided mechanistic insights into the curative effect of dietary fiber on myocardial infarction with a specific emphasis on the potential role of microbiota-metabolism-immunity interactions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zhao, Cheng, Lu, Shan, Zhang, Sun, Kang, Xie and Xu.)

Cadmium (Cd) and fluorine (F) often coexist in environment and are toxic to organisms; however, their combined effects on plants are still not well documented. In this study, the co-effects of Cd and F on germination, biomass, photosynthesis, and nutrients uptake of lettuce were carried out in hydroponic culture. The results showed that the seed germination and seedling biomass decreased with an increase in Cd and F supplementation. The root morphology verified these effects as excess combined Cd and F diminished the root tips and surface area of lettuce, while single Cd and F inhibited the growth by decreasing root length and average diameter, respectively. These effects were also consistence with a reduction in photosynthesis which was mainly regulated by reducing the quantum yield of PS II, electron transport activity, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO 2 concentration, and transpiration rate in response to the pollutants. Moreover, when lettuce exposed to Cd and F stress, the accumulation of several essential elements in shoot decreased. In a sum, the synergistic negative effects of Cd and F on the seed germination and seedling growth of lettuce were observed, and these might be owed to nutrient absorption and translocation in the plant. These findings aid in understanding the harmful effects and specific mechanisms of action of Cd and F on plants., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Several literatures have examined the risk of chronic respiratory diseases in association with short-term ambient PM 2.5 exposure in China. However, little evidence has examined the chronic impacts of PM 2.5 exposure on morbidity of chronic respiratory diseases in cohorts from high pollution countries. Our study aims to investigate the associations. Based on a retrospective cohort among adults in northern China, a Cox regression model with time-varying PM 2.5 exposure and a concentration-response (C-R) curve model were performed to access the relationships between incidence of chronic respiratory diseases and long-term PM 2.5 exposure during a mean follow-up time of 9.8 years. Individual annual average PM 2.5 estimates were obtained from a satellite-based model with high resolution. The incident date of a chronic respiratory disease was identified according to self-reported physician diagnosis time and/or intake of medication for treatment. Among 38,047 urban subjects analyzed in all-cause chronic respiratory disease cohort, 482 developed new cases. In CB (38,369), asthma (38,783), and COPD (38,921) cohorts, the onsets were 276, 89, and 14, respectively. After multivariable adjustment, hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval for morbidity of all-cause chronic respiratory disease, CB, asthma, and COPD were 1.15 (1.01, 1.31), 1.20 (1.00, 1.42), 0.76 (0.55, 1.04), and 0.66 (0.29, 1.47) with each 10 μg/m 3 increment in PM 2.5 , respectively. Stronger effect estimates were suggested in alcohol drinkers across stratified analyses. Additionally, the shape of C-R curve showed an increasing linear relationship before 75.00 μg/m 3 concentrations of PM 2.5 for new-onset all-cause chronic respiratory disease, and leveled off at higher levels. These findings indicated that long-term exposure to high-level PM 2.5 increased the risks of incident chronic respiratory diseases in China. Further evidence of C-R curves is warranted to clarify the associations of adverse chronic respiratory outcomes involving air pollution., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a large family of synthetic chemicals, some of which are mammary toxicants and endocrine disruptors. Recent studies have implicated exposure to PFASs as a risk factor for breast cancer in Europe and America. Little is known about the role of PFASs with respect to breast cancer in the Chinese population., Methods: Participants who were initially diagnosed with breast cancer at Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital between 2012 and 2016 were recruited as cases. The controls were randomly selected from the participants with available blood samples in the Chinese National Breast Cancer Screening Program (CNBCSP) cohort. Ultimately, we enrolled 373 breast cancer patients and 657 controls. Plasma PFASs were measured by an ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) system coupled to a 5500 Q-Trap triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. A logistic regression model with least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regularization was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the relationships between PFASs and breast cancer. The three most predictive variables in the LASSO model were selected from 17 PFASs, which was based on the optimal penalty coefficient (λ = 0.0218) identified with the minimum criterion. Additionally, Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) and quantile g-computation models were applied to evaluate the associations between separate and mixed exposure to PFASs and breast cancer., Results: Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) exhibited the highest concentration in both the cases and controls. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluoro-n-decanoic acid (PFDA) were positively associated with breast cancer, and perfluoro-n-tridecanoic acid (PFTrDA) was negatively associated with breast cancer according to both the continuous-PFASs and the quartile-PFASs logistic regression models. Of note, PFOA was associated with the occurrence of estrogen receptor (ER)-, progesterone receptor (PR)-, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer (OR ER+  = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.19, 1.80; OR PR+  = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.69; OR HER2  = 1.62, 95% CI: 1.19, 2.21)., Conclusions: Overall, we observed that PFASs were associated with breast cancer in Chinese women. Prospective cohort studies and mechanistic experiments are warranted to elucidate whether these associations are causal., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The associations between particulate matter (PM) exposure, psychosocial stress and blood cell parameters are bringing novel insights to characterize the early damage of multiple diseases. Based on two studies conducted in three Chinses cities using cross-sectional (Beijing, 425 participants) and panel study (Tianjin and Shanghai, 92 participants with 361 repeated measurements) designs, this study explored the associations between short-term exposure to ambient PM and blood cell parameters, and the effect modification by psychosocial stress. Increasing PM 2.5 exposure was significantly associated with decreases in red blood cell (RBC) count and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and increases in mean corpuscular volume (MCV), platelets count (PLT) and platelet hematocrit (PCT) in both studies. For instance, a 10 μg/m 3 increment in PM 2.5 concentration was associated with a 1.04% (95%CI: 0.16%, 1.92%) increase in PLT (4-d) and a 1.09% (95%CI: 0.31%, 1.87%) increase in PCT (4-d) in the cross-sectional study, and a 0.64% (95%CI: 0.06%, 1.22%) increase in PLT (1-d) and a 0.72% (95%CI: 0.33%, 1.11%) increase in PCT (1-d) in the panel study, respectively. In addition, stronger increases in MCV, PLT, and PCT associated with PM 2.5 exposure were found in higher psychosocial stress group compared to lower psychosocial stress group (p for interaction <0.10), indicating that blood cell parameters of individuals with higher psychosocial stress might be more susceptible to the early damages of PM 2.5 exposure., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Inhibition of sympathetic activity and renin-angiotensin system with renal denervation (RDN) was proved to be effective in managing refractory hypertension, and improving left ventricular (LV) performance in chronic heart failure. The inhibition of sustained sympathetic activation prevents or delays the development of cardiac fibrosis and dysfunction that occurs after myocardial infarction and ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. The translational efficiency of RDN remains to be defined in preclinical animal studies., Objectives: This study investigated the therapeutic role of RDN in adverse remodeling and intramyocardial inflammation in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (MI/R) injury., Methods: Herein, 15 minipigs were subjected to 90-min percutaneous occlusion of the left anterior descending artery followed by reperfusion. Eight animals received simultaneous RDN using catheter-based radiofrequency ablation (MI/R-RDN). Cardiac function and infarct volume were measured in vivo , followed by histological and biochemical analyses., Results: The infarct volume in I/R-RDN pigs reduced at 30 days postreperfusion, compared to I/R-Sham animals. The levels of catecholamine and cytokines in the serum, kidney cortex, the border, and infarcted regions of the heart were significantly reduced in I/R-RDN group. Moreover, the gene expression of collagen and the protein expression of adrenergic receptor beta 1 in heart were also decreased in I/R-RDN mice. Additionally, RDN therapy alleviated myocardial oxidative stress., Conclusion: RDN is an effective therapeutic strategy for counteracting postreperfusion myocardial injury and dysfunction, and the application of RDN holds promising prospects in clinical practice., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wang, Qi, Gu, Dai, Shan, Li, Gong, Chang, Hao, Duan, Xu, Hu, Mu, Zhang, Lu, Wang, Wu, Li, Kang and Xu.)

Background: Previous studies have shown that exposures to ambient particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ) and stress are associated with adverse cardiovascular health effects., Objectives: To investigate the potential modifying effect of trait anxiety on the association between short-term exposures to PM 2.5 and HRV variables., Methods: A panel of 92 middle-aged and elderly adults in Tianjin and Shanghai were recruited for repeated follow-ups with measurements of 24-h personal exposures to air pollutants and Holter ECG monitoring. Heart rate variability (HRV) variables calculated over 5-minute segments during the 24 h, including low frequency power (LF), high frequency power (HF), standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals (SDNN) and root mean square of successive differences (rMSSD), were included in the analysis. The Trait Anxiety Inventory was used to investigate the long-term general anxiety level of the participants. Generalized linear mixed-effects model was used to analyze the association between exposure factors and HRV variables, and potential effect modification by trait anxiety., Results: Data on 87 participants were included in final analysis after exclusions. Higher exposure to PM 2.5 was associated with lower levels of LF, HF, SDNN and rMSSD, and the largest decreases in LF, HF, SDNN and rMSSD were found at 3-h moving average. Trait anxiety significantly modified the associations of PM 2.5 with LF, HF, SDNN and rMSSD, with stronger inverse associations found in high trait anxiety group than in low trait anxiety group. For an IQR (27.3 μg/m³) increase in PM 2.5 at 3-h moving average, there were decreases of 3.50% (95% CI: -4.46%, -2.54%) and 3.50% (95% CI: -4.49%, -2.50%) in the high trait anxiety group, and decreases of 0.81% (95% CI: -1.22%, -0.40%) and 0.65% (95% CI: -1.07%, -0.23%) in the low trait anxiety group in HF and rMSSD, respectively (both p for interaction<0.01)., Conclusion: Our study suggests that trait anxiety could modify the association of short-term exposure to PM 2.5 with HRV variables, indicating that higher trait anxiety may increase the cardiac susceptibility to air pollution in the study participants., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Soil microorganisms could affect the quality of tobacco leaves, however, little is known about the association of tobacco chemical components and soil fungal communities. In the present study, the relationship between soil fungi and tobacco quality based on chemical components in Bijie was investigated. The results showed that the total harmony scores (THS) of the analyzed tobacco leaves ranged from 46.55 ± 3.5 to 91.55 ± 2.25. Analyses of chemical components revealed that high contents of nicotine (≥ 1.06%) and sugar (total sugar: ≥ 22.96%, reducing sugar: ≥ 19.62%), as well as low potassium level (≤ 2.68%) were the main factors limiting the quality of flue-cured tobacco leaves. Pearson correlation analysis indicated that soil nitrate, available potassium/phosphorous, and organic matter significantly correlated with tobacco nicotine, potassium, and chloride levels (p < 0.05). Besides, the analysis of alpha- and beta-diversity of soil fungal communities implied that fungal structure rather than the richness affected the chemical quality of tobacco. In detail, the relative abundance of Humicola olivacea species in soils was positively correlated with the THS of tobaccos (r = 0.52, p < 0.05). Moreover, the species including Mortierella alpina, Mortierella hyalina, Tausonia pullulan, and Humicola olivacea were negatively correlated with tobacco sugar (r ≤  - 0.45, p < 0.05) while, Codinaea acaciae and Saitozyma podzolica species were negatively correlated with tobacco nicotine (r ≤  - 0.51, p < 0.05). The present study provides a preliminary basis for utilizing fungal species in soils to improve the chemical quality of tobacco in the studied area., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Straw residues, as one of the conservation farming practices, are being strongly encouraged in China, including some cadmium-polluted areas. Nowadays, a portion of this plant residue is promoted to be removed for reducing excess metal(loid) in the soil and to be used for bioenergy production. Nevertheless, the possible influences of contaminated straw or the burial of its derived biochars on Cd accumulation in soil and data based on health risk assessment associated with different status and extent of soil contamination were relatively unknown. Thus it is important to provide a more systematical understanding of contaminated straw burial at specific contamination zones, which may provide useful guidance for straw utilization. In this study, we harvested two genotypes of rice straw from 6 contaminated levels among three soil types to comprehensively study the total Cd contents in straws and its derived biochars and correlate the sets of straw characteristics and Cd contents in three different contamination zones. The total Cd concentration in straws grew at a steady rate relatively with increasing soil Cd contamination levels, compared to those in biochars which performed more fluctuate due to the strong burning. According to correlational analyses, three-way ANOVA showed that the moisture, ash, volatile and fixed carbon were all significantly affected by straw Cd Total contents ( p  < 0.001). Such relationships were attributed to guide straw removal portions for gasification. Meanwhile, there was a significant correlation between straw Cd concentration and soil types ( p  < 0.001), confirming that it might be worth determining soil remediation by straw removal according to site-specific farmland conditions. This work will help to assess efforts toward predicting Cd concentration in the paddy soils related to kinds of contamination status and would also give useful guidance to make sustainable management strategies for crop straws in polluted regions. Novelty statement This work provided data on how much rice straw is needed to remove to ensure the minimal amount to control soil contamination and reduce costs according to site-specific conditions and soil Cd contamination status. It also explains the correlations between straw characteristics related to bioenergy use and soil conditions which would give guidance to balance using crop straw for increased bioenergy production and the need to also protect, preserve, and enhance soil resources.

Numerous cohort studies have reported the association of long-term exposure to particulate matter <10 μm in diameter (PM 10 ) and hypertension in American and European countries. However, these results have been inconsistent and subject to various confounding factors. The study aimed to explore the effect of long-term exposure to high-level concentrations of PM 10 on incident hypertension in a large-scale cohort from northern China. A retrospective cohort study of 39,054 participants aged between 23 and 98 years old from four cities in northern China was followed from 1998 to 2009. Excluding those with hypertension, 37,386 non-hypertensive participants (overall population) were followed for self-reported hypertension. The individuals' exposure to PM 10 was the mean concentration during the follow-up period, according to the data of local environmental monitoring centers. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated by Cox proportional hazards models. The adjusted potential confounding factors included sociodemographic information, lifestyle, and diet. There were 2619 (7.0%) incident cases of hypertension among the overall population. In multivariable models, the HR (95% CI) of incident hypertension was 1.537 (1.515, 1.560) for each 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 10 . Stratified analyses showed individuals (age <65) were prone to developing hypertension. Moreover, the effects of PM 10 increased and produced an HR (95% CI) of 1.555 (1.527, 1.584) for the healthy population in the sensitivity analysis. We found that the association between long-term exposure to PM 10 air pollution and incident hypertension was significantly positive., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited part of Springer Nature.)

Understanding the comprehensive effect on crop production and quality, soil acidification, and Cd accumulation and distribution for wheat-rice rotation under N fertilization and continuous straw return is important for proper contaminated agricultural soil management. A 2-year paddy field experiment was conducted to study the effects of above factors change in the Zhejiang province, China. Fertilization treatments included: conventional N fertilizer application (N3), 20% reduction of N application (N2), 40% reduction of N application (N1), combined with three portions of straw incorporation: all straws retention (N3), half of the straws into the fields (S2), 20% straws retention(S1). The N1 treatments significantly decreased crop yields compared to N2 and N3 treatments. Except for C2-wheat, soil pH generally decreased with increasing N fertilizer input in the order of N1>N2>N3, regardless of how many straws was amended. Moreover, we found that straw addition plus N fertilization had a intersystem impacts on Cd accumulation, distribution and availability. Although total Cd had different trends among 4 experimental seasons, when the N reduced 20% applied, the DTPA-Cd contents were lowest among 3 out of four experimental seasons, except for that of C2-wheat, where N2 treatments ranked the second lower contents. For most seasons, Cd contents in straws were higher than soils and lowest in grains, and S2N2 treatment performed an intermediate value among all treatments. Furthermore, our study demonstrated that S2 or N2 treatments or S2N2 reduced the potential risk of plant diseases and pests with lower disease index, disease cluster rate. Notably, the relative outbreak of pests was remarkably suppressed under S2 treatments, especially S2N2. Thus, these findings demonstrated that in wheat-rice rotation reducing 20% N fertilization with 50% straw returning may be a win-win practice in this region for the equilibrium between agricultural productivity, quality and low Cd polluted risk., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: While the relationship between ambient air pollution and diabetes mellitus has recently been reported, data on the association between fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) and diabetic complications are limited, especially in microvascular diseases such as diabetic retinopathy., Objectives: To investigate the associations between long-term exposure to PM 2.5 and the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in adult diabetic patients in rural China., Methods: The study population was based on the Rural Epidemiology for Glaucoma in China (REG-China), a national cross-sectional survey conducted in rural China. This analysis selected diabetic patients with or without diabetic retinopathy. A satellite-based spatiotemporal model was used to estimate personal PM 2.5 exposure. Logistic regression models were used to investigate the effect of long-term PM 2.5 exposure on diabetic retinopathy., Results: The analysis included 3111 diabetic participants, 329 of whom were diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy. The median level of exposure to PM 2.5 from 2000 to2016 was 59.9 μg/m 3 . For each 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 , the adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for diabetic retinopathy was 1.41 (1.27, 1.57). In subgroup analyses, the effect of PM 2.5 on diabetic retinopathy was significantly stronger in participants who self-reported alcohol consumption., Conclusion: These findings suggest that long-term exposure to high PM 2.5 was associated with the risk of diabetic retinopathy among diabetic patients in rural China., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: A growing body of evidence has confirmed the association between fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) and ocular diseases, but little is known on the effect of long-term PM 2.5 exposure on glaucoma., Methods: A national cross-sectional study of the Rural Epidemiology for Glaucoma was conducted in 10 provinces of China, and 33,701 adults aged 40 years or more were included. A satellite-based model at 1-km resolution level was used to estimate PM 2.5 concentrations which were assigned to each participant according to geocoded home addresses. Logistic regression model was performed to investigate associations of long-term PM 2.5 exposure with glaucoma and its subtypes., Results: Estimated PM 2.5 concentrations ranged from 28.0 to 96.4 μg/m 3 . For each 10 μg/m 3 increment in PM 2.5 , the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were 1.07 (95% CI: 1.00-1.15) and 1.14 (95% CI: 1.02-1.26) for glaucoma and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG), respectively. A positive but non-significant association (OR = 1.05, 95% CI: 0.92-1.18) was detected between long-term exposure to PM 2.5 and odds of primary open-angle glaucoma. The middle aged residents and non-smokers were more sensitive to the adverse effects of PM 2.5 ., Conclusions: Long-term PM 2.5 exposure was associated with glaucoma and PACG in Chinese adults, which provided new insights on adverse ophthalmic effect of PM 2.5 ., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Background: Evidence regarding the effects of ambient air pollution on new stage 1 hypertension defined by the 2017 ACC/AHA Hypertension Guideline remains sparse., Objectives: To investigate the association of long-term exposure to ambient PM 2.5 with stage 1 hypertension and to explore the mediating and modifying effects of PM 2.5 on cardiovascular disease (CVD)., Methods: A total of 32,135 participants aged 18-80 years were recruited in 2017. The three-year (2014-2016) average PM 2.5 concentrations were assessed by a spatial statistical model. Blood pressure (BP) was divided into four categories according to the 2017 ACC/AHA Hypertension Guideline: normal BP (SBP<120 mmHg and DBP<80 mmHg), elevated BP (SBP 120-129 mmHg and DBP<80 mmHg), stage 1 hypertension (SBP 130-139 mmHg or DBP 80-89 mmHg), and stage 2 hypertension (SBP≥140 mmHg or DBP≥90 mmHg or taking antihypertensive medications). The associations of PM 2.5 with BP categories were estimated by two-level generalized linear mixed models. Analyses stratified by age, mediation and interaction analyses of PM 2.5 and stage 1 hypertension with CVD were performed., Results: We detected a positive significant association between long-term exposure to PM 2.5 and stage 1 hypertension. Compared to normal BP, the OR was 1.05 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.08) per 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 . The association was stronger than that of elevated BP but weaker than that of stage 2 hypertension. Stage 1 hypertension only partially mediated the association between PM 2.5 and CVD, and the mediation proportions ranged from 1.55% to 11.00%. However, it modified the association between PM 2.5 and CVD, which was greater in participants with stage 1 hypertension (OR: 1.66; 95% CI: 1.43, 1.93) than in participants with normal BP (OR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.57), with P interaction <0.001. In the analysis stratified by age, the above associations were age-specific, and significant associations were only observed in the young and middle-aged (<60 years) groups., Conclusions: Long-term exposure to ambient PM 2.5 was significantly associated with stage 1 hypertension. This earlier stage of hypertension may be a trigger BP range for adverse effects of air pollution in the development of hypertension and CVD, especially in young and middle-aged individuals., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Evidence is still limited for the role of long-term PM 2.5 exposure in cerebrovascular diseases among residents in high pollution regions. The study is aimed to investigate the long-term effects of PM 2.5 exposure on stroke mortality, and further explore the effect modification of temperature variation on the PM 2.5 -mortality association in northern China. Based on a cohort data with an average follow-up of 9.8 years among 38,435 urban adults, high-resolution estimates of PM 2.5 derived from a satellite-based model were assigned to each participant. A Cox regression model with time-varying exposures and strata of geographic regions was employed to assess the risks of stroke mortality associated with PM 2.5 , after adjusting for individual risk factors. The cross-product term of PM 2.5 exposure and annual temperature range was further added into the regression model to test whether the long-term temperature variation would modify the association of PM 2.5 with stroke mortality. Among the study participants, the annual mean level of PM 2.5 concentration was 66.3 μg/m 3 ranging from 39.0 μg/m 3 to 100.6 μg/m 3 . For each 10 μg/m 3 increment in PM 2.5 , the hazard ratio (HR) was 1.31 (95% CI: 1.04-1.65) for stroke mortality after multivariable adjustment. In addition, the HRs of PM 2.5 decreased gradually as the increase of annual temperature range with the HRs of 1.95 (95% CI: 1.36-2.81), 1.53 (95% CI: 1.06-2.22), and 1.11 (95% CI: 0.75-1.63) in the low, middle, and high group of annual temperature range, respectively. The findings provided further evidence of long-term PM 2.5 exposure on stroke mortality in high-exposure settings such as northern China, and also highlighted the view that assessing the adverse health effects of air pollution might not ignore the role of temperature variations in the context of climate change., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: To evaluate the contributions of elevated lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] to the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in the general Chinese community population according to different lipid profiles., Methods: We recruited individuals aged over 18 years from the baseline survey of the Cohort Study on Chronic Disease of Communities Natural Population in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei (CHCN-BTH) using a stratified, multistage cluster sampling method. Data were collected through questionnaire surveys, anthropometric measures and laboratory tests. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) functions, multivariate logistic regression, sensitivity analyses and stratified analyses were used to evaluate the association between Lp(a) and CHD., Results: A total of 25,343 participants were included, with 1,364 (5.38%) identified as having CHD. Elevated Lp(a) levels were linearly related to an increased risk of CHD (P overall-association <0.0001 and P nonlinear-association =0.8468). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that subjects with Lp(a) ≥300 mg/L had a higher risk of CHD [OR (95% CI): 1.36 (1.17, 1.57)] than did individuals with Lp(a) <300 mg/L. Compared with individuals with Lp(a) <119.0 mg/L (<50th percentile), the ORs (95% CI) for CHD in the 51st-80th, 81st-95th and >95th percentiles were 1.07 (0.93, 1.23), 1.26 (1.07, 1.50) and 1.68 (1.30, 2.17), respectively (P for trend <0.0001). This association was also found among the subgroup of subjects without dyslipidemia, including those with normal total cholesterol (TC) (<6.2 mmol/L), triglycerides (TG) (<2.3 mmol/L), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (≥1.0 mmol/L) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (<4.1 mmol/L). Elevated Lp(a) and dyslipidemia significantly contributed to a higher risk of CHD with synergistic effects. Stratified analyses showed that elevated Lp(a) concentrations were significantly associated with an increased risk of CHD in the subgroups of individuals who were noncurrent drinkers, overweight individuals, individuals with hypertension, individuals who engaged in moderate physical activity, those without diabetes mellitus and individuals in Beijing and Tianjin., Conclusions: Elevated Lp(a) concentrations were linearly associated with a higher risk of CHD in the general Chinese community population, especially in normolipidemic subjects. Both dyslipidemia and elevated Lp(a) independently or synergistically contributed to the risk of CHD. Our results suggest that more attention should be paid to the levels of Lp(a) in normolipidemic subjects, which may be an early predictor of CHD., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/atm-20-3899). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2021 Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved.)

Evidence has shown that the activation of AhR (aryl hydrocarbon receptor) can promote cancer cell metastasis. However, limited studies have been carried out on mixed exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), especially in human breast cancer. Therefore, using MCF7 human breast cancer cells, we investigated the effects of coexposure to MEHP (mono 2-ethylhexyl phthalate) and TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) on cell migration and invasion, as well as the roles of AhR and the MMP/slug pathway. Our data suggest that MEHP or TCDD can induce migration and invasion in MCF7 cells, and the promotion is partly AhR dependent. We also observed that MEHP antagonized TCDD to reduce AhR-mediated CYP1A1 expression. Subsequently, we revealed that MEHP recruited AhR to dioxin response element (DRE) sequences and decreased TCDD-induced AhR-DRE binding in CYP1A1 genes. Overall, MEHP is a potential AHR agonist, capable of decreasing TCDD-induced AhR-DRE binding in CYP1A1 genes. The antagonizing effect of coexposure led to the inhibition of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in MCF7 cells. Our study provides new evidence for the potential mechanisms involved in EDCs exposure and their interactions in EMT., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Evidence regarding the effects of long-term and high-level ambient air pollution exposure on cardiac conduction systems remains sparse., Objectives: To investigate the associations of long-term exposure to air pollution and cardiac conduction abnormalities in Chinese adults and explore the susceptibility characteristics., Methods: In 2017, a total of 27,047 participants aged 18-80 years were recruited from the baseline survey of the Cohort Study on Chronic Disease of Communities Natural Population in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei (CHCN-BTH). The three year (2014-2016) average pollutant concentrations were assessed by a spatial statistical model for PM 2.5 and air monitoring stations for PM 10 , SO 2 , NO 2 , O 3 and CO. Residential proximity to a roadway was calculated by neighborhood analysis. Associations were estimated by two-level generalized linear mixed models. Stratified analyses related to demographic characteristics, health behaviors, and cardiometabolic risk factors were performed. Two-pollutant models were used to evaluate the possible role of single pollutants., Results: We detected significant associations of long-term air pollutant exposure with increased heart rate (HR), QRS and QTc, such that an interquartile range increase in PM 2.5 was associated with 3.63% (95% CI: 3.07%, 4.19%), 1.21% (95% CI: 0.83%, 1.60%), and 0.13% (95% CI: 0.07%, 0.18%) changes in HR, QRS and QTc, respectively. Compared to the other pollutants, the estimates of PM 2.5 remained the most stable across all two-pollutant models. Similarly, significant associations were observed between living closer to a major roadway and higher HR, QRS and QTc. Stratified analyses showed generally greater association estimates in older people, males, smokers, alcohol drinkers, and those with obesity, hypertension and diabetes., Conclusions: Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution was associated with cardiac conduction abnormalities in Chinese adults, especially in older people, males, smokers, alcohol drinkers, and those with cardiometabolic risk factors. PM 2.5 may be the most stable pollutant to reflect the associations., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Ambient air pollution has recently been related to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), a disease that has caused an economic and health burden worldwide. Evidence of an association between air pollution and T2DM was reported in the United States and Europe. However, few studies have focused on the association with high levels of air pollutants in a developing country., Objectives: We conducted a 12-year cohort study to assess the incidence and mortality of T2DM associated with long-term exposure to PM 10 , SO 2 , and NO 2 ., Methods: A retrospective cohort with participants from four cities in northern China was conducted to assess mortality and incidence of T2DM from 1998 to 2009. Incidence of T2DM was self-reported, and incident intake of an antidiabetic drug or injection of insulin simultaneously and mortality of T2DM was obtained from a family member and double checked against death certificates provided from the local center for disease control and prevention. Individual pollution exposures were the mean concentrations of pollutants estimated from the local environmental monitoring centers over the survival years. Hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using Cox regression models after adjusting for potential confounding factors., Results: A total of 39 054 participants were recruited into the mortality cohort, among which 59 subjects died from T2DM; 38 529 participants were analyzed in the incidence cohort, and 1213 developed new cases of T2DM. For each 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 10 , SO 2 , and NO 2 , the adjusted HRs and 95% confidence interval (CI) for diabetic incidence were 1.831 (1.778, 1.886), 1.287 (1.256, 1.318), and 1.472 (1.419, 1.528), respectively. Similar results can be observed in the analysis of diabetic mortality with HRs (95% CI) up to 2.260 (1.732, 2.950), 1.130 (1.042, 1.225), and 1.525 (1.280, 1.816), respectively., Conclusions: Our results suggested that long-term exposure to high levels of PM 10 , SO 2 , and NO 2 increase risk of incident and mortality of T2DM in China., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Several studies have researched the short-term effect of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) exposure on hypertension. However, no evidence has provided the relationship between long-term high pollution exposure of SO 2 and morbidity of hypertension in cohort studies in China. This retrospective cohort study aimed to evaluate this association. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to examine the hazard ratios (HR) for hypertension risks from 1998 to 2009 associated with accumulative exposure of air SO 2 among adults in northern China. Annual average concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) were obtained from 15 local environmental monitoring centers. Hypertension was identified according to self-reported diagnostic time and treatment for hypertension with anti-hypertensive medication. Among 37,386 participants, 2619 new cases of hypertension were identified during 426,334 person-years. In the fully adjusted model, HR and 95% confidence interval (CI) of hypertension incidence for each 10 μg/m 3 increase in SO 2 were 1.176 (1.163 and 1.189). Results from stratified analyses suggested that effects of SO 2 on hypertension morbidity were more pronounced in participants < 60 years old, tea drinkers, and those with high education, high poultry consumption, and active (occasional and frequent) exercise. We found that long-term exposure to high levels of SO 2 increased the risk of incidence of hypertension in China.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranks the third major cause of cancer-associated mortality globally. Numerous studies have attempted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of HCC using various biomarkers. In the present study, two expression profiles datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus (GSE76427 and GSE84402) and data associated with liver cancer samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were downloaded for integrated analysis. Five differentially expressed genes (DEGs) exhibiting high expression, including ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme 2C (UBE2C), topoisomerase II α, pituitary tumor transforming gene 1, glypican-3 and polycomb-repressive complex 1, were selected and considered as candidate genes. Enrichment analysis demonstrated that these genes were associated with Gene Ontology terms of cellular components and molecular functions, including regulation of apoptosis, stabilization of p53 and Anaphase Promoting Complex/Cyclosome (APC/C) (APC/C:Cdc20)-mediated degradation of Securin. The expression profiles of these genes in HCC, other human malignancies and different human HCC cell lines were validated using GSE14520, GSE3500 and TCGA data. The results confirmed the upregulation of UBE2C in tissues from patients with HCC or other human malignancies and human liver cancer cell lines, compared with the expression levels in the corresponding adjacent non-tumor tissues and cell lines, respectively. Patients with HCC who exhibited an increased messenger RNA level of UBE2C exhibited a significantly shorter survival time. The results of the present study suggest that the overexpression of UBE2C may be used as a novel prognostic biomarker of HCC.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been reported to exert reproductive endocrine toxicity, but the mechanisms for this process remain unclear. Currently available studies have concentrated on the enzymatic reactions during steroidogenesis, but the results are not consistent. In this study, we explored the effects of 2,2',4,4'-tertrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) on progesterone biosynthesis and the potential mechanisms in human placental choriocarcinoma cells. The results showed that BDE-47 decreased progesterone production in a dose-dependent manner but had no effect on key enzymes (Cyp11a1 and 3β-HSD). BDE-47 exposure depolarized the mitochondrial membrane potential and downregulated adenosine triphosphate levels. The gene expression levels of Mfn2, Tspo, Atad3, Vdac1, Fis1, and Drp1, which are involved in mitochondrial dynamics and cholesterol transport, were disturbed. The demethylation of some CpG loci of mitochondrial biomarkers (Drp1, Opa1, Vdac2, and Atad3) was induced in the 1 μM BDE-47 exposure group, but no methylation change was observed with 50 μM treatment. Our findings unveiled that the reduction of progesterone synthesis induced by BDE-47 might be associated with cholesterol transportation, mitochondrial dynamics, and mitochondrial functions. These findings provide substantial data on the reproductive endocrine toxicity of PBDEs.

The mechanism underlying thrombosis in atrial fibrillation (AF) is not yet clearly understood. The apelin/APJ axis parallel and counter-regulate with the angiotensin system. The present study hypothesizes that apelin/APJ axis exert its anti-thrombus effect in normal left atrial tissue and is disrupted by up-regulated renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) signaling during AF. The specimens of left atrial appendages collected from patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis who underwent valve replacement were divided into 3 groups: sinus rhythm, AF + /thrombus - , and AF + /thrombus + . The amounts of angiotensin II receptor subtype 1 (AT1), apelin/APJ and its downstream plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) were detected by western blot. The expression of apelin/APJ was significantly decreased in the AF + /thrombus + group compared with the sinus rhythm and AF + /thrombus - groups. Meanwhile the expressions of AT1 and PAI-1 were highest in the AF + /thrombus + group compared to the other two groups. Taken together, the present study reveals apelin/APJ axis might be correlated with thrombosis in patients with AF mediated by PAI-1.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been shown to be efficacy to attenuating cardiovascular inflammation; however, there are many limitations to stem cell treatment. Present study was to prove MSC-derived exosomes (MSC-Exos) could alleviating inflammatory cardiomyopathy by improving the inflammatory microenvironment of myocardium, especially by regulating the activity of macrophages. Mice were intraperitoneal injected of doxorubicin (DOX) to establish a dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) model, and then received intravenous injection of either MSC-Exos or PBS as control. Mice receiving MSC-Exos showed improved cardiac function via echocardiography and attenuated cardiac dilation via HE staining, as well as reduced cardiomyocytes apoptosis. Expression levels of inflammatory factors were reduced. And there was a significant decrease of the inflammatory cells infiltration in the MSC-Exos treatment group comparing to the PBS group. Meanwhile, MSC-Exos could remarkably attenuate the pro-inflammatory macrophages amount in both blood and heart, which was proved that MSC-Exos relied on the JAK2-STAT6 pathway mediating macrophages activation. MSC-Exos improved the inflammatory microenvironment of dilated cardiomyopathy by regulating the polarization of the macrophage, which may hold promise for dilated cardiomyopathy clinical therapy., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Parasites and competitors are important for regulating pathogen densities and subsequent disease dynamics. It is, however, unclear to what extent this is driven by ecological and evolutionary processes. Here, we used experimental evolution to study the eco-evolutionary feedbacks among Ralstonia solanacearum bacterial pathogen, Ralstonia-specific phage parasite, and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens competitor bacterium in the laboratory and plant rhizosphere. We found that while the phage had a small effect on pathogen densities on its own, it considerably increased the R. solanacearum sensitivity to antibiotics produced by B. amyloliquefaciens. Instead of density effects, this synergy was due to phage-driven increase in phage resistance that led to trade-off with the resistance to B. amyloliquefaciens antibiotics. While no evidence was found for pathogen resistance evolution to B. amyloliquefaciens antibiotics, the fitness cost of adaptation (reduced growth) was highest when the pathogen had evolved in the presence of both parasite and competitor. Qualitatively similar patterns were found between laboratory and greenhouse experiments even though the evolution of phage resistance was considerably attenuated in the tomato rhizosphere. These results suggest that evolutionary trade-offs can impose strong constraints on disease dynamics and that combining phages and antibiotic-producing bacteria could be an efficient way to control agricultural pathogens., (© 2016 The Author(s). Evolution published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Society for the Study of Evolution.)